Two African Leaders Cancel Trips to U.S. Summit

WASHINGTON–A planned gathering of African leaders in Washington, D.C., next week will continue as scheduled as an Ebola epidemic rages in West Africa, officials said, but two leaders have canceled their visits so they can stay at home and address the burgeoning crisis.

Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma and Liberia President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf won’t attend the three-day Washington conference with dozens of other African leaders and President Barack Obama. Mr. Koroma announced his decision to cancel his visit in a televised address. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf confirmed Ms. Sirleaf’s decision Thursday.

“We obviously respect the decisions that both she, and if other leaders decide the same thing, need to make to address this crisis,” Ms. Harf told reporters at a briefing.

At the White House, spokesman Josh Earnest said the White House has no plans to alter the summit’s schedule. The U.S. is planning a meeting between U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell, officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and leaders from affected countries, Ms. Harf said.

The U.S. doesn’t have concerns about the outbreak making its way to the United States, Ms. Harf said. The CDC has stated there is no significant risk in the U.S. from the current Ebola outbreak, including from those traveling for the summit, she said.

The CDC is providing instructions to health care-officials on how to deal with individuals who display signs of the illness and has issued travel warnings for Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

So far, 729 people have died from the outbreak, which began in Guinea in February. Another 1,323 people are confirmed or suspected of having the disease, according to the World Health Organization.

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